Coffee & Swiping: W/E April 30, 2017

Goooood Morning everyone! Welcome to another Monday with yours truly. It’s time to fire up those coffee makers or head to the closest 7-11. Because Noen has a tall tale to tell. A sexual tale about the past week in mobile gaming. So, get the hand lotion and meet me out in the shed!! Hurry!!

Wow. I’m looking at the calendar and it’s May 1st already. It’s crazy how time flies. As a “gamer”, I would usually get bummed when Spring would hit. That’s usually when the console gaming industry would slow down for the year and all we would have to look forward to is shitty movie tie-ins that were hardly worth the purchase and E3. I never really understood the thinking behind all of that. I know most big games came out around the holidays, but people still play games in the summer. That’s why I love the mobile industry. There really isn’t a “down-time” for mobile games. Sure, there’s the big push at the end of the year before the App Store Freeze, but that’s about it. For the most part, the mobile industry never stops. Mix that with console, handheld, or PC and you’ll never run out of games. That’s pretty much where we’re at today. Almost TOO many games. I’m not complaining though.

Anyway, it was a pretty quiet week (as far as content goes) for SNAPPZILLA last week. I was busy doing a lot of “behind the scenes” stuff for the new look of the site, so I wasn’t able to get a whole lot out. I think all the new headers that indiedev, Nik Mihaylov was doing for us are all done now, so that’s out of the way. I went out and picked up a new mic/stand/etc for the YouTube Channel and have been converting a lot of stuff over to my Mac because recording/editing seems to run a lot smoother than on my laptop. So, that was pretty much the bulk of my week. Things should be a lot smoother this week now that all that is out of the way.

Of course, I still had plenty of time for gaming. We had another great week for new releases on the App Store. We had a little bit of everything come out last week. Seriously, you had to have found something in last week’s SNAPP Roundup. We had high score chasers like, Squashy Bug and Gonaldo. Endless runners like, Robot UnicornAttack 3 and Run Monster Run. Racing games like Arena World Tour and NASCAR Heat. Puzzle games like Match Land and Star Wars: Puzzle Droids. I guess I could go on, but you get what I’m trying to say.

So, what would Coffee & Swiping be without me talking about my penis….I mean, what games I played last week.

First up is from this week’s #SNAPPChallenge. The game is Penarium (Team 17). I’ve gotta say that this game can be tough, but tough in a good way. There’s a campaign mode that will ease you into everything at a pretty decent pace. As for the arcade mode, I’m horrible right now. I’m in last place with a score of around 15. I’ve gotta give props to everyone else that’s hitting scores of 50+. But, as for the game itself, it’s definitely worth checking out. There’s a pretty hefty campaign, different arenas to unlock, and an endless arcade mode.

Next up is Zombie Fest. This is a weird one. The game was released last Thursday, then the game disappeared from the App Store, then there was an update to fix the ads which ended up breaking the game. Hopefully the developer gets things straightened out because the game was actually really fun. It’s a really unique single stick shooter with a ton of potential.

Super Crossbar Challenge (FredBear Games) had me hooked over the weekend. I’m not sure what kind of voodoo the developer put in this game to make it so fun, but I couldn’t stop playing. It’s a simple swipe based game where you are a soccer/football player and instead of kicking a goal like most games, the object is to hit the crossbar instead. Of course, there are missions to complete, areas to unlock, and players/balls to purchase, so there’s actually something to play for besides a high score. I’m not sure what makes the game so fun, but it definitely deserves a download.

I just got started on Die With Glory (Cloud Castle) yesterday and so far I’m digging it. It’s got a good sense of humor to it and the puzzles are pretty clever. What I really like about it is the different types of gameplay the game brings. It’s not just a Point & Click game. Each “story” brings something new to the game. Like I said, I’m not that far into it yet, but it feels like a winner to me already.

I gave the PLAYMOBIL Ghostbusters game a go over the weekend even though it’s rated for kids 9 to 11. It’s based off of the original Ghostbuster cast, plus, you can create your own character if you so choose. It actually could have been a solid title if they spent a little more time with it. It’s basically a dumbed down wave based shooter, but it’s kind of fun. It’s just a little too easy for us grown folks. I ended up giving up after a couple 20 minute rounds.

Lastly, I’ve gotta give props to this little game. Swimmington’s Monkey Dream (Sarbaken Game Studio). This game is essentially a playable commercial for Goldfish Crackers. The game itself is actually really well done though! It plays a lot like Ski Safari…..a LOT. So, you’re basically playing a goldfish cracker that’s riding on a monkey’s back and you’re being chased by a big roll of paper. Yea, I know. You can unlock different characters and open up different Goldfish commercials. The game actually looks and plays really well. The developers did a great job with creating something fun. It’s just a shame that the talent was wasted on a game about crackers. Hopefully they got a good chunk of money for doing it. I’d like to see more from these guys.

As far as news for last week, of course there were a bunch of announcements. Rovio’s Battle Bay is finally leaving soft launch after like 2 years and is finally releasing on May 4th. Indiegame, Jack B. Nimble got a huge update last week with a ton of additions (love that game), and Forsaken Media is about to start taking sign-ups for their open beta of their upcoming game, Noblemen. That all seems to be nothing compared to the news that Apple has cut their referral commission rates. *gasp* This pretty much means that bigger sites don’t get as much of a cut from people clicking on game links from their site. Hell, we don’t get shit for any of that! So, pardon me for giving zero fucks if these bigger sites are getting less money for doing absolutely nothing but posting a link. Yes, it was a hefty cut going from 7%, to 2.5%, but it’s not like that’s these bigger sites only source of income. They have ad revenue, sponsors, Patreon, and who knows what else. In all honesty, it’s not really that expensive to run a website. It’s just a lot of hard work. We do it every single day and we do it without all those incentives. (I’m just going to leave this here…..)

Sorry to end this morning on a little rant. It’s just frustrating seeing these bigger sites asking for more money when we are struggling. Hell, I’m embarrassed every time I post something about donating, but I know that it’s all temporary and just to keep SNAPPZILLA running until we gain a little more exposure. Ugh! Ok, I’ve gotta go or else I’m going to rant to you guys and gals all day.